Chronicles of a Warrior
by coffeeaddict42
Summary: These are some selected thoughts of Suki from A: TLA, from all throughout the series.  She is strong, willful, and she's got some major girl power, so there's action and of course, romance as she gets to know Sokka.
1. Hotheaded

Hot-headed

The other warriors and I crept behind the trees. I watched our prey, breathing slowly and steadily. I made the gesture that told the girls to attack and within seconds, the deed was done. The three we caught were a vulnerable bunch—a bald young boy with a tattoo on his head, a girl with blue clothes on and her brown hair in a braid, and a young teenage boy with blue warrior's clothing, but obviously lacking a warrior's heart and skills. Once tied up, he said,

"Or, we could stay a while," to his friends. I smiled to myself. What an easy catch. The other warriors tied all of them to our town's Avatar Kyoshi statue while I went to get our master.

"You three," he grumbled to them, "have some explaining to do."

"And if you don't answer all our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the Unagi," I finished, narrowing my eyes at them.

"Show yourselves cowards!" the adolescent warrior cried. I swiped his blindfold off quickly and he said, "Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?"

"There were no men, we ambushed you," I explained. "Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?"

"Wait a second, there's no way a bunch of girls took us down," he said, his expression skeptical and smug.

"A bunch of girls, huh?" I asked, grabbing his furry white coat threateningly, "The Unagi is gonna eat well tonight."

The girl with the braid was quick to reply, "No, don't hurt him!" I looked at her questioningly. "He didn't mean it. My brother is just an idiot sometimes." I looked at her brother and let go.

"It's my fault," the bald boy said suddenly, looking a bit guilty, "I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant coy."

"How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies?" our master asked. "Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far, and we intend to keep it that way."

"This island is named for Kyoshi?" the bald boy asked, smiling a little. "I know Kyoshi!"

"Ha! How could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries!" our master laughed. The boy looked at our statue of Kyoshi, my idol. He thought for a minute.

"I know her because I'm the Avatar."

"That's impossible!" I exclaimed. "The last Avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago."

The boy smiled widely. "That's me!"

"Throw the imposter to the Unagi," our master growled. The other Kyoshi warriors and I whipped out our gold fans and walked towards our three captives. I heard the girl said quietly to the bald boy,

"Aang, do some airbending…" Suddenly he flew into the air, over the statue of Kyoshi and slowly to the ground. I heard some townspeople come forward and some of the other Kyoshi warriors say,

"Wow, that's amazing!"

"It's true," our master marveled. "You _are_ the Avatar."

"Now, check_ this_ out!" the Avatar said, pulling out some marbles and doing a little trick with them. The crowd was screaming and brimming with excitement. All over our island, the news spread like wildfire, and soon everyone knew. The warriors and I introduced ourselves to the Avatar and his friends, then retreated to the house where we all lived together.

"To think, the Avatar, visiting our island," Jade, one of my close friends and the second best warrior after me, mused.

"He's very spry for being over one-hundred years old, isn't he?" laughed Yori. We laughed with her.

"What do you think of his companions, Suki?" one of the warriors asked me.

"Yes, they're from one of the Water Tribes, aren't they?" asked another.

"I believe so," I said slowly.

"What's the girl's name?" Yori asked. "Kara?"

"Katara," Jade answered. "And her brother is Sokka."

"And the Avatar is Aang," I said.

"Well, Suki? What do you think of them?"

"The Avatar seems a bit young, possibly more ignorant than I'd imagine an Avatar to be," I said. "Katara seemed nice—not the warrior type like us, but she seems intelligent and a bit stubborn. Sokka, however, appears to be a bit—"

"Sokka is kind of cute," Yori chirped. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Actually, I would call him—"

"But he's really stubborn," she broke in again. She and the other warriors got into a deep conversation about his pros and cons, while I took off my makeup and thought to myself. I didn't need to say it aloud. Sokka was a hot-headed, sexist jerk who needed an attitude change. Cute? What did that have to do with anything? I looked at my fans and my green-and-black armor thoughtfully. These girls are supposed to be the warriors of Kyoshi. I joined this group because I believed in girl power, and that most men are pigs. Unfortunately, ever since Yori joined she's been changing the other warriors, making them think about silly things, like boys and relationships. What was so special about men? They didn't believe in our power, and that was their loss, especially when they mistook us for shy, defenseless wimps who didn't know how to throw a punch, or block a hit.


	2. I'll make a Girl out of You

I'll make a Girl out of You

(yes, like Mulan…)

The next morning Jade and I got ready before the other warriors, so we left the house and started off to get a quick cup of tea before training. We downed the cups quickly, and then went to see the Kyoshi statue, which was being repainted. It looked better than ever before. We went inside to start training and she eyed me carefully.

"So, you don't like this Sokka guy, do you?"

"Not at all," I replied shortly.

"He doesn't seem so bad."

"He's not fit to call himself a warrior."

"You barely know him, Suki."

"I'm not sure I want to."

"Why not? Give the guy a chance. He's a warrior, like us."

"You don't find him arrogant at all?"

"I don't know him, either, but I don't think he's as bad as you—" she stopped short, seeing the other warriors coming in. When everyone had arrived, we started off with our sequence of stances to warm up a bit.

That's when Sokka came in. "Sorry ladies," he said, holding his hands up and smiling, "I didn't mean to interrupt your dance lesson." We all stopped and I glared at him. He continued, stretching a little, "I was just looking for somewhere to get a little workout." I repressed my desire to tell him that he'd need more than a little workout if he wanted some muscles on those flimsy arms of his. Instead, I replied,

"Well, you're in the right place. Sorry about yesterday. I didn't know you were friends with the Avatar." I thought that would be a better thing to say—besides, since he was a friend of our special guest, I needed to respect him, too. Outwardly.

"It's alright. I mean, normally I'd hold a grudge, but seeing as you guys are a bunch of girls I'll make an exception," he told us, sounding quite satisfied with himself for being so "suave."

"I should hope so. A big, strong man like you?—we wouldn't stand a chance," I said innocently.

"True," he said, stretching some more. "But don't feel bad. After all, I'm the best warrior in my village."

"Wow! Best warrior, huh? In your whole village?" I said, acting impressed. "Maybe you'd be kind enough to give us a little demonstration." I looked to the girls, and then to him. He appeared dumbfounded at first. His voice sort of cracked when he said,

"Oh, well, I mean, I…"

"Come on, girls," I said, turning back to them. "Wouldn't you like him to show us some moves?"

Some laughed, some smiled, and all of them nodded.

"Well, if that's what you want," Sokka shrugged to me, "I'd be happy to. Alright…" he said, grabbing my shoulders and putting me into place in front of him. "You stand over there. Now," he continued, backing up, "this may be a little too tough, but try to block me."

I nodded, as though I couldn't think how I could possibly fight this strong, skillful warrior. His fist came towards my face and I put my fan to his shoulder effortlessly. He backed up and let out a yelp, clutching his shoulder.

"Good," he said surely, "Of course, I was going easy on you."

"Of course," I smiled.

"But let's see if you can handle this—" he started, kicking up with his right leg as I swooped to the floor and swung my arm up, sending him flying across the room. He yelped again and said, "That does it!" He came at me and tried to hit me again, but I grabbed his arm, flung him around in a circle a few times before removing his white belt and tying his left wrist to his right ankle. He hopped along and finally fell down.

"Anything else you want to teach us?" I asked, smiling at him. The other warriors laughed, and I was glad to have showed them what Sokka really was.

Later that day, I was showing the girls some new techniques I'd thought up, and again, Sokka came in. Internally, I sighed. Something arrogant this way comes.

"Uh, hey, Suki…" he said slowly. I stood up from my stance.

"Hoping for another dance lesson?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips.

"No, I… well, let me explain…" he was obviously still searching for the right words.

"Spit it out," I ordered him. "What do you want?"

Clearly, he was still a little unsure of himself, but to my astonishment, he knelt down before me and said, "I would be honored if you would teach me." I folded my arms across my chest and looked down skeptically.

"Even if I'm a _girl?"_

"I'm sorry if I insulted you earlier. I was… wrong." It must've been hard to say, but it satisfied me enough.

"We normally don't teach outsiders, let alone boys," I informed him.

"Please make an exception. I won't let you down," he vowed.

"Alright," I said, thinking of something. "But you have to follow all of our traditions."

He looked up and said earnestly, "Of course."

"And I mean _all_ of them." I sent Yori to get a uniform that she thought would fit Sokka, and I told Jade to grab some makeup and an extra pair of fans back from our house. Soon, Sokka was fully dressed as a Kyoshi warrior, and ready for my private lesson with him.

"Do I really have to wear this? It feels a little… girly," he grumbled.

"It's a warrior's uniform. You should be proud," I said, "The silk thread symbolizes the brave blood that flows through our veins; the gold insignia represents the honor of the warrior's heart." Sokka seemed pleased by what I'd told him.

"Bravery and honor," he smiled triumphantly.

"Hey Sokka! Nice dress," Aang laughed from the door. Sokka's confidence and comfort dissipated, but I smiled.

"We should've closed the door," he groaned.

"As a warrior, you have to trust in your own ability, and not rely on other people's opinions on you. Only you can judge yourself, and you gain your own honor by what you do in that uniform—not by the uniform itself."

"Yeah, I guess so," he shrugged. "So, where do we begin?"

"Well, I think I should start with my own apology," I admitted. "I said that only you can judge yourself—but I haven't really been fair to you with that. The moment we met, I started judging you, thinking you were this conceited jerk, and—"

"I _was_ being a jerk," he interrupted.

"Well, you were," I smiled. "You were acting like one, anyway. But you've really proven yourself to be quite the warrior. I didn't know you had it in you. Let's get started with some basic fighting stances and then some actual moves…"

We worked for a while as I showed him the stances that the girls and I do daily, and we eventually started working on his use of the fans. He went through several stances and then let his fan fly out of his hands and hit a tree outside. I looked at it, then back at him,

"It's not about strength," I explained, "Our technique is about using your opponent's force against them. Loosen up. Think of the fan as an extension of your arm." I pulled out my fan to demonstrate. "Wait for an opening, and then—" I came at him with my fan, but he blocked me and pushed me to the ground. I looked up at him with wide eyes. He made a noise and I stood up. "I fell on purpose to make you_ feel_ better!"

"I got you!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger at me. "Admit I got you!"

I grabbed the finger and pulled it back. He struggled and I smiled, "Okay. It was a lucky shot. Let's see if you can do it again." I pulled out my fan and walked around him. We fought for half an hour and after a while he got the hang of blocking my hits with the fan.

"Not bad," I told him right before my master entered and cried,

"Firebenders have landed on our shores! Girls, come quickly!" I ran after him and caught up with the rest of the warriors. I was behind one of the tea shops, watching the firebenders come forward on these strange animals. I signaled for Yori, Jade, and I to make the first moves at attack, and we did. I went straight for the teenage guy with a scar on his face who seemed to be waiting for his soldiers to do the job. I tried to jump on top of the animal he was on to get a better shot at attacking him, but he spun the animal around and its tail wacked me, sending me into the sand. I coughed as the sand hit me throat, and when I wiped my eyes free of it, I had no time to block the scarred boy's firebending.

Suddenly, Sokka appeared in front of me, and blocked the fire with his fans. He looked down at me, surprised at what he'd done. Jade jumped onto the scarred boy's back and knocked him from the animal to the porch in front of someone's house. "I guess training's over," Sokka said quickly, running over to the porch. He, Jade, and I surrounded the scarred boy, who spun around on the porch, shooting fire from his feet. He knocked Jade into the house through some curtains and I found my back hitting the pole, hard, from the fire's impact. Sokka had fallen on the porch. I heard the scarred boy yell,

"Nice try, Avatar, but these little girls can't save you!"

"Hey! Over here!" Aang cried.

"Finally," the scarred boy said with delight. They started fighting, so the warriors, Sokka, and I went and fought with the other firebenders. When we saw that Aang had finished his fight, Sokka said it looked like it was time for them to go. We went behind someone's house and said,

"There's no time to say goodbye." I had to go back and keep fighting the soldiers.

"What about, I'm sorry?" Sokka said.

"For what?"

"I treated you like a girl when I should've treated you like a warrior," he confessed.

"I am a warrior," I said slowly. Then I kissed his cheek. "But I'm a girl, too." He touched his cheek where I'd kissed it and he blushed. I looked back at the other warriors. They needed my help, and Sokka had to go, no matter how much I felt myself wanting him to stay. "Now get out of here. We'll hold them off."

And we went our separate ways.


	3. Competing with the Moon Spirit

Of course, Suki didn't know that Yue was the moon spirit (or was going to be), but it's probably best that way. If I were vying for a guy's emotions against a spirit, I'd be a bit unsure of myself. Anyway, this takes place after the episode Waterbending Masters, and before the episode Avatar Day, though you'll realize that as you read on. Enjoy :)

* * *

Competing with the Moon Spirit

Jade and I walked into the Lotus Tea Room one night after having had a full day of training. We both ordered cups of jasmine tea and some fish and noodles for our meal. I sat across the booth from her and sighed, grabbing a letter from my pocket.

"What's that?" she asked. I shrugged, putting it on the table and running my fingers through my hair.

"I haven't read it yet; I got it when a boat came into the harbor," I said as she examined the outside. "He said it's from the Northern Water Tribe."

"That's amazing," Jade marveled, handing the letter back to me. I opened it.

"It's from Katara," I said, surprised. Katara and I were acquaintances, but the fact that she'd written to me was a bit strange. I read the letter to Jade quietly, "'Dear Suki, I hope you and the other Kyoshi warriors are doing well. We have finally reached the Northern Water Tribe, and after some trouble at first, I'm learning to become a waterbending master, along with Aang,'" I stopped, sipping some tea. "That's the first paragraph."

"Travelling all over the world sounds like fun," Jade commented. "We could help with the war."

"I don't know if our master would approve of us leaving Kyoshi Island," I said under my breath, "But I'm tempted to go around the world, too. We're warriors—we should be out there, fighting the Fire Nation."

"Yes—that scar-faced teenage prince who came to Kyoshi was enough to push me over the edge," she agreed. "We could help the Avatar and his friends save the world."

"Well, the letter goes on," I continued, "'I truly hope that we can see you again once we have finished training. Everything here is going well; no sign of Zuko or any other Fire Nation threats. And we met the princess of the Northern Water Tribe, Yue. She's very down-to-earth and kind. It seems that she's stolen Sokka's heart,'" I paused, looking over what I'd just read, to make sure I hadn't misread it. But there is was, staring me in the face like an icy stab to my heart: _She's stolen Sokka's heart. _Sokka had fallen in love with someone else? With a beautiful princess from the Northern Water Tribe? Katara couldn't possibly have realized how much that would sting me. How could I compete with this girl? I cleared my throat, but didn't read more. Jade raised an eyebrow at me.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Is that it?"

"No," I said, starting to choke up. No tears came out, but the urge to cry was putting unbelievable pressure on my throat.

"You sound awful," Jade murmured, picking up my tea cup. "Here, drink some more tea." I closed my eyes tightly and focused on the pressure in my throat. It barely lessened, so I just opened my eyes and took her advice.

"I don't know what came over me."

Jade smiled, as if to say,_ Well, _I_ do. _Our noodles and fish were brought to the table, and she twirled some noodles around her chopsticks.

"Okay, I can keep going now," I said slowly, picking it up.

"You're not acting like yourself," she mused. "You're usually so unaffected, so… disciplined, I guess."

I looked into her eyes. I _was_ usually like that. But I'd just discovered that Sokka was in love with this Princess Yue girl. She was probably charming, and she probably acted all cute, and I'm sure she was pretty. That seemed more like Sokka's type of girl.

"Anyway," I said, deciding to just to keep reading. "'Yue and Sokka now spend a good bit of time together, and feelings appear to be mutual. I know you'll be happy for him—you two were always such good friends. Again, we all can't wait to come to Kyoshi Island again once Aang and I have completed our training. Sincerely, Katara,'" I finished.

"That's sweet," Jade nodded, stuffing a large bite of fish into her mouth. "I had no idea Katara and you had become friends when the Avatar visited."

"We didn't," I said stiffly.

"Then why did she write to you?"

"It's for all of us," I shrugged, sipping some more of my tea. The steam from the cup soothed my nostrils and I breathed it in, feeling comfortable despite the pit in my stomach which had formed upon reading the rest of the letter.

"I'm surprised that Sokka hasn't sent you anything," she noted. "When he was here, you two really became close friends."

"Yeah."

"I mean, she said so in her letter."

"Yeah," I repeated.

"He seems like the kind of guy to fall for a princess," she continued.

"Does he?" I asked, though of course he did. I knew that better than she did.

"Oh, definitely," she said, wiping her mouth and putting her napkin on the table, having finished her meal. "It seems like that's his taste."

"You don't think he would fall for a warrior, like us?"

"You mean like you?" she inquired, eyeing me carefully, so as to detect any change in my composure. I was good at keeping my facial expression separate from my inner feelings, thank goodness.

"No, like any of us, really. Like any girl he came into contact with who fought like us?"

"I don't know," Jade sighed, looking out of the window as she stirred her tea. "I'm not an expert with Sokka, but my impression of him is that he would fall for these girls who concentrated on style or fashion or whatever, and were a bit more passive than girls like us. It's just a thought, of course, but that's what I think."

"Well, we should head back to the house," I decided, and we gave our money to the server and left.

The next day I put on my makeup and uniform, grabbed my fans, and headed straight to training to work on some new moves I'd thought about it bed last night. My master came in and smiled,

"Suki, what brings you here so early?"

"Just practicing," I said, bowing to him respectfully.

"Jade told me that you got a letter from the Avatar," he noted.

"I didn't realize Jade was already here," I shrugged. "But yes, I got a letter from the Avatar—or, from his friend, really. They've reached the Northern Water Tribe to master waterbending."

"What a wonderful experience," he mused.

"I don't know if Jade told you, but we had an idea, which could be a good use of our warriors' talent," I told him. He raised an eyebrow. "What if, rather than staying to Kyoshi to keep training, we actually did some fighting to help end the war?"

"Kyoshi is not involved in the war," he said gruffly.

"You saw what they did to our island when that prince with the scar was pursuing Aang, and found him here," I rejoined just as gruffly. It wasn't respectful, but I can be pretty persistent when I need to be.

"I know, and I don't want you girls to be involved in it any more. The war is none of Kyoshi's business."

"Avatar Kyoshi was brave and determined," I said of my idol in a strong, confident voice. "If she were alive when the Fire Nation was doing this, she would have fought, and encouraged everyone to join forces to stop the Firelord at all costs!"

"Fine," he said, smoothing his outfit a little. "Then it is settled. Next week, the Kyoshi warriors will go, to help with ending the war."

"Thank you, my master," I smiled, bowing reverently again. "We won't let you down."


	4. Stay Strong

Stay Strong

When the rest of the girls and I were ready to leave, our master gave me a map.

"Alright, Suki, so you'll go there, then there, and you'll end up where all of the refugees from the war go."

"I thought we were going to fight," one of the girls said.

"Well, here's the first step, at least, to helping the war effort in the Earth Kingdom. They need workers to help transport refugees into Ba Sing Se. You won't actually go into Ba Sing Se, but you'll work with the refugees and their passports and all."

"And after that?" I asked.

"It's your call, Suki," he smiled. "You'll lead them wherever your warrior expertise is needed."

All the girls bowed and started out of the door, while I stayed behind. "Thank you, Oyaji. You've been like a father to me," I said, bowing to him. He gave me a little hug and said,

"It's amazing what effect the Avatar and his friends had on you."

"Yeah," I nodded, wondering what they were doing right then. Then I walked out the door and the other warriors and I walked down towards the beach. We all looked up at the Kyoshi statue and I smiled, telling them, "We're going to make her proud. Now let's go help with this war, you guys."

We got on our boat and started making our way across the long sea. Then, the Unagi came up from the water and sprayed water on us. It dove for the attack and at the right moment, I pulled out my fans and jumped on the Unagi's back. I got onto its head, punched it on its forehead and it started to sink into the water. I jumped off of the Unagi and onto our boat. The other warriors gaped at me.

"You just took down the Unagi," Yori muttered.

"For a few seconds," I clarified. "Come on, let's go out of here."

When we arrived to start helping with the refugees, we were given new uniforms. The girls and I took off our makeup and I reluctantly put my fans away. How would the Kyoshi warriors be any help with defeating the Fire Nation if we were forced to go around weaponless, helping refugees get to Ba Sing Se? After this, we really needed to get back to fighting. We _were_ warriors.

We came out and went our separate ways, to help people get onto the trains and help them with passports and all. I thought about Katara, realizing I hadn't sent her a letter back. Hopefully they would be finishing their waterbending training soon, because next in the cycle was earthbending, and hopefully that meant I could see them again soon—Katara, Sokka, and Aang were good friends of us, despite our short time together.

I saw a teenage guy with a girl who appeared to be his sister. They reminded me of Sokka and Katara.

"Can I see your passports, please?" I asked. The guy looked at me and smiled,

"Yeah, sure, they're right here."

"Looks good. Are you travelling alone, the two of you?" I asked. It was a personal question, but he didn't seem shaken by my boldness.

"We are," he nodded. "We were separated from our parents by the war, and now we're going back to Ba Sing Se to meet up with them."

"That's sweet," I smiled.

"What's your name?"

"Suki," I answered, looking up at him.

"So you work here?"

"Well, temporarily," I said as his sister went to get some tea for the two of them. "I'm a Kyoshi warrior. All of us came from Kyoshi Island to help with the refugees; after that, we'll go and actually do some fighting."

"Fighting?"

"Give any of us two fans, maybe a katana, and we'd be your worst nightmare," I laughed.

"Wow. I've never met such a brave girl."

"You'd be surprised. We're not so sensitive and sweet all the time."

"Oh?" he chuckled. "Well, it looks like my sister and I are going to be here a while."

"Yeah?"

"There's some kind of delay. You didn't know?"

"Not yet," I muttered, looking around.

"Anyway, would you want to join us for some dinner? It'll be pretty public, but you don't seem like one to mind that."

"I…" I mulled over what he'd just offered. He probably liked me, and he was pretty cute and all, but no matter what Sokka did while I wasn't around, I couldn't just ignore my feelings for him. "I'm sorry. I can't."

"Are you involved with somebody else?" the guy asked.

"Well, sort of," I said quickly, and I turned away, blushing deeply. When the girls and I met back up that night for dinner with the workers, Yori turned to me and whispered,

"I saw you with that cute guy and his sister, Suki." She giggled a little. I grimaced,

"And?"

"You were blushing! Don't deny it, Suki."

"Not for him," I explained, hoping that my indifferent attitude would stop her from pursuing the subject. It didn't.

"I'd be blushing, too, if a cute guy like him were flirting with me."

"Can you be quiet?" I growled. Everyone at the table looked at us. "I'm very sorry. I think I need to go get some fresh air."

I stood up, and saw that Jade was doing the same. I wiped me mouth and ran outside.

"Suki?" she sounded concerned.

"I'd rather not talk about it, actually," I said, forcing a smile.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm upset about Sokka and this princess girl from the Northern Water Tribe, okay?" I snapped.

"He's free to do what he wants with his love life," she pointed out. I turned to her and we leaned on the balcony.

"Yeah? Even if it hurts me?"

"You're a warrior. In fact, you're the best warrior I know. You're probably, in all the years since Avatar Kyoshi's death, the most like her. Are you really going to let a _boy_ get the better of you? The Suki I know is stronger than that and she doesn't let people get to her."

"Sokka can do whatever he wants—go out with this Yue girl—and I'm not saying he can't. It's his choice," I shrugged. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to be okay with it. I really like Sokka."

"Maybe he doesn't feel the same way…" she suggested. I sighed,

"Well, I kissed him on the cheek before he left the island."

"What did he say after that?"

"Nothing," I admitted. "But you know what? You're right. I'm a Kyoshi warrior. If one guy doesn't like me, no matter how much I like him, I can't let it get me down."

"Or _tie_ you down," she added.

"One day, Jade, we're going to get out of this place and end this war for good. We'll be the real warriors we've always trained to be. And I'll try not to let my feelings for Sokka change me, or blind me," I assured her. We both walked inside, everyone having finished eating, and went to our barracks where we slept. I adjusted myself in the two-by-six foot bed and heaved a long sigh, looking up at the blank barrack above me, secretly wishing that I could have a real home. Not a house for warriors, not a place for employees to stay, but a real home. Or was home a place where there were people you loved? I guess I won't ever know.


	5. Confessions

Sorry, I know it's been forever since I've updated this story—school has had me beyond swamped. I hope you enjoy this chapter; it takes place during Book Two: Earth, episode 12: The Serpent's Pass. Please review:)

* * *

Confessions

"I'm running a little late, Suki," Yori told me, falling out of her barrack lazily. "Can you cover part of my morning shift? Just to check tickets and all?"

"Sure," I nodded and slipped my security guard uniform on quickly—I'd planned on having a break before my mid-morning shift started, to practice some fighting stances—and went out of our room.

"I'm just glad we made it to Full Moon Bay in one piece," one refugee said to her companion, who narrowed his eyes at me.

"Suki?"

"Do I—"

"We're from Kyoshi as well, but you haven't seen you for so long. We're moving to Ba Sing Se."

"Oh, okay," I nodded, still unsure of who they were.

"Did you see?" the woman asked me. "The Avatar and his friends are here."

"Really?" I asked, excited to see everyone, especially Sokka. But it would be nice to see Aang—he'd probably learned and grown a lot since he came to Kyoshi. I walked around until I heard a voice that was unmistakably Sokka's exclaim from behind me:

"All right, we scammed that lady good!" I grabbed the back of shirt and turned him to me.

He yelped as I said, "Tickets and passports, please."

"Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, I've got a problem with _you_. I've seen your type before. Probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious, and let me guess: you're traveling with the Avatar." He blinked and stared at me strangely.

"Do I know you?"

I grabbed his shirt again. "You mean you don't remember? Maybe you remember this." Then I kissed his cheek. He blushed lightly and then his whole face brightened when he beamed at me.

"Suki!" We hugged.

"Sokka, it's good to see you," I said, though I felt that I had so much more to say. For one thing, what happened with Princess Yue?

...

I leaned against the balconies edge and Katara, Toph, and Sokka sat down. Aang was against another side of the balcony, looking thoughtful and so much older than he had the last time I'd seen him. It hurt me to think of his refreshing childlike innocence peeling away as he grew older and more knowledgeable of the war-torn world around him. "You look so different without your makeup," Katara noticed. "And the new outfit…"

"That crabby lady makes all the security guards wear them." Then I ventured, eyeing Sokka up and down, "And look at you sleeveless guy. Been working out?"

"Eh, I'll grab a tree branch and do a few chin-touches every now and then," he stretched his back. "Nothing major." He touched his biceps, still the same Sokka as ever. Katara shook her head at him and then Aang spoke up,

"Are the other Kyoshi warriors around?"

"Yeah, after you left Kyoshi we wanted to find a way to help people. We ended up escorting some refugees," I said—thinking of how we'd picked up some travelers on our way to here so they could go to Ba Sing Se—"and we've been here ever since."

Momo came up on the balconies edge and I laughed and petted him. "Hi, Momo. Good to see you too." I looked at the group. "So why are you guys getting tickets for the ferry? Wouldn't you just fly across on Appa?" Every looked down solemnly.

Katara explained, "Appa is missing. We hope to find him in Ba Sing Se." She looked at Aang, who looked away, obviously extremely depressed.

"I'm so sorry to hear that." I faced Aang. "Are you doing okay?"

He paused, but said strongly, "I'm doing fine. Would everybody stop worrying about me?"

A woman cried from somewhere below, "Avatar Aang, you have to help us! Someone took all of our belongings—our passports, our tickets—everything's gone!" She began to weep and I noticed the poor woman was pregnant.

"I'll talk to the lady for you," Aang decided. He and the others went to do so and I decided to ask around and see if anyone had witnessed the crime. I came up to the guy I'd seen only the week before who was still here for some reason—the one with the sister.

"Did you see—"

"Was that him?" he cut in. I frowned.

"What?"

"Was that the guy you told me about? That you're involved with?"

"That's none of your business," I said testily.

"I'm sorry," he shrank, clearly afraid of me, at least to some extent—which he should be. "But is it?"

"It doesn't matter."

"You kissed his cheek."

"It doesn't matter," I repeated confidently. "Now, did you see anyone stealing a bag with people's passports, tickets, and other belongings? A family was robbed."

"I didn't see anything."

"_Suki_!" Yori cried and ran to me. "I saw you kiss Sokka."

"On the cheek," I said, stifling my laughter at her enthusiasm.

"Oh my gosh, he smiled _so big _when you did it."

"Yeah well, we need to get back to work."

"But—" I pushed her aside and moved toward the next group when Jade came up to me. "What?" I snapped.

"Don't bite me," she chuckled. "I just wanted to say I asked everyone in my sector if they'd seen anything and they hadn't. Did you have any luck?"

"Not yet," I sighed. "All the criminal activity around here is so demoralizing, don't you think? Everyone here is a refugee—they should be helping each other, not stealing. This is a war between nations, not people."

"Desperation makes even the most honest people go mad," she mused.

"Very wise."

"One of the refugees, this old guy, told me that after I got him his jasmine tea. Nice guy."

"Sounds like it," I nodded shortly.

"It's good to see Sokka again," she noted, searching my face for an expression.

"It's good to know that the Avatar and his friends are safe, and that he has an earthbending master."

"You're excited to see Sokka—come on."

"Of course I am. It's really nice," I told her, and she nodded, smiling ridiculously and walking away as I turned to question more refugees. Then another Kyoshi warrior, Myra, ran up to me.

"The Avatar and his friends are going to lead that family across the Serpent's Pass."

My eyes widened and I opened my mouth in shock. The most dangerous pass in the Earth Kingdom—what a risk.

"I have to go," I told her, gesturing for her to tell the other warriors. I sprinted to my barrack and quickly applied my makeup and donned my uniform. Then I rushed out to catch the group and said,

"I'm coming too!"

Sokka turned around reluctantly. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" My heart sunk.

"Sokka, I thought you'd want me to come."

"I do, it's just—"

"Just what?" I asked earnestly.

"Nothing. I'm glad you're coming," he offered. I walked past him disappointedly. We went out to the pass, gathering some food and supplies for the journey.

"This is the Serpent's Pass? I thought it would be more windy, you know, like a serpent. I guess they misnamed it." The path looked fairly treacherous, but a pit formed in my stomach at the thought of the surprises that lay in store for us.

"Look at this writing," the pregnant woman, Ying, said, pointing to a sign. "How awful!"

"What does it say?" Toph asked.

"It says, 'Abandon Hope,'" Katara read.

Ying cried, "How can we abandon hope? It's all we have!"

"I don't know," Aang spoke up. "The monks used to say that hope is just a distraction. So maybe we do need to abandon it."

"What are you talking about?" Katara asked for all of this. I had a feeling his ideology went deeper than his education from the monks.

"Hope isn't going to get us to Ba Sing Se, and it's not gonna find Appa. We need to focus on what we're doing right now, and that's getting across this pass."

I frowned at his newfound seriousness. Katara sighed. "Okay. If you say so."

We started our trek and Sokka and I kept close the whole way. "Oh, watch out!" he'd said the moment we started. "Okay, it's not wet. I didn't want you to slip." I found myself rolling my eyes again and again—Sokka seemed to have resorted to his old ways of sexism and general disillusion that he was stronger and more capable than me.

"The Fire Nation controls the western lake," I announced to the group, having spotted a ship in the lake. "Rumor has it they're working on something big on the other side and they don't want anyone to find out what it is." We all turned to look at the ship as it pumped black steam into the air. Suddenly the man, Than, who was traveling with us stepped on an unsteady surface and began to fall. He screamed but Toph used her earthbending to let him land on a piece of rock below and she bounced him back to our path.

"I'm okay," Than announced. The rock plummeted to the water and Sokka and I had the same thought. He said,

"They spotted us! Let's go, let's go!" The ship started shooting fireballs at us. Aang went to deflect the fireballs and it destroyed the ship, but not before another ball escaped and hit the wall of rock directly above me. I gasped and Sokka pushed me out of the way. Toph then used earthbending to save his life—the rocks would've crushed him. He looked up and ran to me, crying,

"Suki, are you okay? You have to be more careful. Come on!" He grabbed my hand and propelled me forward before I could thank Toph—or before he could for that matter. Part of me thought I would melt when Sokka saved me, but that's only because it's all I knew (Yori told us all about her guy experiences, whether we cared or not). But I wasn't like Yori. All I could think when Sokka pushed me out of the way and told me to be careful was that I'm a warrior, not a wimp, and I can take care of myself. It was sweet that he cared, but he needed to realize that I can help myself—the thought that he didn't was even insulting. We continued our journey and I continued surprising myself with the fact that though I loved being with Sokka, I couldn't seem to shake him and his over-protectiveness off, until he and Katara started talking about Aang, who I finally caught up with.

"What was all that about abandoning hope before?"

"You can't rely on hope for everything. Hope is just a force that pushes you forward, but it doesn't accomplish anything."

"As in, you can hope you'll find Appa, but that won't do anything about it?"

He gave me a sideways glance and shrugged, seeming strong, but I could tell he was putting on an act. "Exactly. Appa's not going to magically appear if I just have hope."

"But if gives you an incentive to search for him," I pointed out. "You love Appa—I know you miss him more than words can say, but that doesn't mean you can't express your feelings for him. You're hurt, and you—"

"Suki," he interrupted. "I'm searching for him, but like I've been saying, hope won't help the search…"

"Aang—"

"I'd prefer if we walked in silence." And so we did until it grew dark. I lit a fire, though Sokka argued I could get burned or a firebender could pop out of nowhere and attack me or something. Than massaged Ying's feet in quiet tranquility. Everyone set up their blankets, so I followed suit. I set it near the edge of the cliff and Sokka said,

"Suki, you shouldn't sleep there. Who knows how stable this ledge is? It could give way at any moment."

I told him, controlling my anger with his overprotective attitude rather unsteadily, "Sokka, I'm fine, stop worrying!" He moved my blanket anyway.

"You're right, you're right. You're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself." Then he jumped and stood in front of me. "Wait! Oh… never mind, I thought I saw a spider," he patted my back. "But you're fine." I gave him a look.

Katara was lying across from me on her blanket and she sighed. I walked over. "Thanks for your letter, Katara. It was a nice surprise," I lied. "I wanted to send one back, but I didn't think it would make it in time."

"Oh, right," she said, and I could tell that was the last thing on her mind.

"Is Aang going to be okay?" I whispered.

"I don't know."

"Hopefully you can find Appa."

"He doesn't even feel anything anymore—about anyone," she shook her head and sat up. "Hope is what drives us—it's a motivation to do good things, to _try. _But he's letting his lack of hope morph into this state of not caring and…" tears fell down her face. "I… just miss the old Aang."

"I know what you mean, Katara," I gave her a side hug. "We all do."

"Yeah," she wiped her tears. "Maybe I can talk to him."

"About the letter," I said slowly. "What happened with Sokka and Yue?"

She shook her head. "It… didn't work out."

"Oh," I nodded, careful to hide how happy I actually was. "That's too bad."

"She's doing better things, now, though… She was so strong. Not so strong-willed, but strong as a person."

"Was?"

"I need to talk to Aang," she told me, and she went to find him.

"So, you are a Kyoshi warrior?" Ying asked me suddenly.

"Yes."

"You must be so brave."

"I try," I laughed.

"Not that Sokka lets you," Toph pointed out, and laughed to herself. This bothered me because of how much truth was in it.

"Where is Sokka?" I said, noticing he must've gone off.

"He walked that way," Toph announced, pointing behind her.

"Thanks," I said. I walked until I saw him, sitting and staring at the night sky thoughtfully.

"It's a beautiful moon," I mused, looking up at its brilliance. It was almost a pearl color.

"Yeah, it really is," he said distantly. I sat down beside him.

"Look, I know you're just trying to help, but I can take care of myself," I eyed him meaningfully.

"I know you can," he replied softly.

"Then why are you acting so overprotective?"

"It's so hard to lose someone you care about. Something happened at the North Pole, and I couldn't protect someone. I don't want anything like that to ever happen again…"

I took a breath and said slowly, "I lost someone I cared about. He didn't die, he just went away. I only had a few days to get to know him, but he was smart and brave and funny…" Sokka looked upset and stood up.

"Who is this guy? Is he taller than me?" he demanded.

"No, he's about your height."

"Is he better-looking?"

"It is you, stupid," I stood up and smiled at him.

"Oh," his expression softened. We stared at each other a moment, we put our arms around each other and leaned in to kiss, but then he turned his face away. "I can't."

"I'm sorry," I said, feeling like a complete fool. He let go of me but my hands were still on his arm when he said,

"No. You shouldn't be." And then he walked away.

I wanted to hit my head against a wall I felt so stupid, just standing there, waiting for a kiss that clearly would never happen. Why had I fallen into the trap of being so silly? A war that tore apart more people's lives and livelihoods every second rampaged across the world and I was concerned over winning the affection of a guy I barely knew.

_Kyoshi would never stand for this_, I thought to myself as I drifted off into a deep sleep.

…

We woke up early the next day, and I noticed right away that Katara's talk with Aang had done nothing to improve his spirits.

"Let's go, I guess," he said to all of us when we were done the tea and rice Katara had prepared.

We started the journey and I walked alongside Katara, intent on avoiding Sokka at all costs.

"What did Aang say last night?"

"He talked about how he lost control in the desert, when he found out he lost Appa and got mad at these sandbenders… I tried to comfort him, but he rejected it."

"I feel so bad for him."

"I do, too," she said. She gestured towards him, "But he needs to find the will to hope and care again."

"If only there was some way that could happen." She didn't respond, so I looked at her, then followed her eyes. The path in front of us disappeared under water and appeared again in the distance—a distance we definitely couldn't swim in with a pregnant woman and a blind girl. We all stared at it blankly until Katara announced,

"Everyone single-file!" She then used her waterbending to create a dry path for us to walk, like a valley in the middle of the ocean. "Aang, I need help," she said, and they enveloped us in a seal of air as we walked along the ocean floor. I watched as Momo escaped into the water and swam along with the fish. Suddenly he came back, made a noise, and rested on Toph's shoulder. We watched in disbelief as a giant serpent sliced straight through our air vacuum. The water fell around us and I inhaled a deep breath of air, but Toph lifted the rock we were standing on to the surface to serve as a small island in the water. The serpent began circling our island and I gulped. Defeating the Unagi for a few minutes was one thing; taking down a gargantuan sea serpent was entirely another. It came out of the water and made a noise at us, revealing his slightly prickly-looking tongue and dragon-like teeth and body.

"I think I just figured out why they call it the Serpent's Pass!" Sokka cried, pointing to the sea creature in fear. "Suki, you know about giant sea monsters! Make it go away!"

"Just because I live near the Unagi doesn't mean I'm an _expert_."

Sokka picked up Momo. "O, Great and Powerful Sea Serpent, please accept this humble and tasty offering! Thank you."

"Sokka!" Katara scolded him. The serpent took a dive for us but Aang deflected him with his airbending.

"I'll distract it. Katara, get everyone across." Aang started battling the creature; Katara created an ice path for us to cross the rest of the way. We did so, and I watched her join in on the action. She froze a section of its body but it broke the ice effortlessly. Sokka spotted Toph, who was still on the island.

"Toph, come on, it's just ice!"

"Actually, I'm gonna stay on my little island where I can see!" she called out, but the serpent landed on it at that moment and it split apart. "Okay, I'm coming!" she put her feet on the ice tentatively and started walking towards us sideways.

"You're doing great!" Sokka told her. "Just follow the sound of my voice!"

"It's hard to ignore."

"You're almost there!" Then the serpent landed on the ice, shattering the pathway. Toph screamed and fell into the water.

"Help!" she cried. "I can't swim!"

Sokka started to take off his shoes. "I'm coming Toph!"

But I got into the water instead and swam out to her.

"Help!" Toph yelled. She fell from the surface and I dove under to rescue her. We breathed together when we reached the surface and she swooned, "Oh, Sokka! You saved me!" Then she kissed my cheek.

I smiled. "Actually, it's me…"

"Oh. Well," she laughed dryly. "You can go ahead and let me drown now." I laughed and took her to the edge of the path. Sokka helped her out of the water and I started to dry my hair off.

"Are you okay, Suki?" he demanded.

"I'm fine, Sokka," I assured him calmly. We then turned and watched Katara and Aang created a whirlpool around the serpent, and then stopped it so that the creature was flung against the side of the rock we'd been walking on mere minutes before. Aang and Katara joined us on the path and cheered for them, all of us beyond relieved that we'd lived through such an experience. It almost made me feel less like a warrior because I hadn't combated with the creature at all. But saving Toph was rewarding in itself, even if she wanted it to be Sokka. She probably had a small crush on him.

We were only walking for a few minutes when Sokka announced, "There's the wall! Now it's nothing but smooth sailing to Ba Sing Se."

Ying let out a gasp. "Oh, no!"

"What's wrong?"

"The baby's coming."

"_What_? _Now_? Can't you hold it in or something?"

"Sokka, calm down," Katara said, "I helped Gran Gran deliver lots of babies back home."

"This isn't the same as delivering an arctic seal! This is a real, human _thing_!"

Katara put her hands on her hips. "It's called a baby. And I helped her deliver plenty of those, too. Aang, get some rags. Sokka, water. Toph, I need you to make an earth tent. A big one." Toph did so and Katara turned to me. "Suki, come with me."

From this point on, I proved to be no help. Katara started trying to get Ying to have contractions or something, and all I really did was wipe sweat off her face with a rag.

"It'll be okay," Katara said over and over, though I think she directly this mostly toward herself.

She had Ying start panting. "You're doing great, Ying. Sokka, where's that water?" she cried. "Get ready to push," she said to Ying. "One, two, three… _push_!"

Ying did so, and suddenly she let out a breath of relief as Sokka fainted upon seeing the baby come out. Katara and I used the water and rags to clean the baby, and having such a small living being in my hands warmed my heart a little. The baby was adorable.

Katara announced happily, "It's a girl!"

I heard Toph say, "So, you wanna go see the baby, or are you going to faint like an old lady again?"

"No, no," Sokka replied. "I'm good this time." They came in as I handed Ying her daughter. Katara went out to get Aang to come see the baby.

"She sounds healthy," Toph noted.

"She's beautiful," Katara smiled.

"It's so… squishy-looking," Sokka said strangely.

"What should we name her?" Than asked.

"I want our daughter's name to be unique. I want it to mean something," Ying said. I looked over to Aang, who looked like a whole new person. His expression was soft and sweet, and tears were welling up in his eyes. He wiped them away and told the couple,

"I'm been going through a really hard time lately, but you've made me… hopeful again." Than and Ying exchanged looks.

"I know what I want to name our baby now," Ying decided. "Hope."

"That's a perfect name. Hope." Than agreed. We went out of the tent so they could have their privacy and Aang took Katara to talk to her.

"That was… nice," Sokka sounded surprised.

"I only wish I could've seen your faint," Toph laughed and punched his arm.

Sokka chose to ignore the comment. "It was good for Aang."

"Yeah, Twinkletoes needed to quit being so dramatic and gloomy," Toph chuckled. We saw him and Katara hug, so we walked over.

"I promise, I'll find Appa as fast as I can. I just really need to do this," Aang vowed, taking his staff from Toph.

"See you in the big city," Sokka said.

"Say 'hi' to that big fuzz-ball for me," Toph joked, and punched his arm, too.

"You'll find him, Aang," Katara assured him.

"I know. Thank you, Katara. You ready, Momo?" The two of them took off towards the city; we waved. Sokka started to pack up his things and I took the plunge.

"Sokka, it's been really great to see you again."

"Whoa, hold on. Why does it sound like you're saying 'goodbye'?"

"I came along because I wanted to make sure you got through the Serpent's Pass safely," I said, though my reasons went deeper than that. "But now I need to get back to the other Kyoshi warriors."

Sokka looked astonished. "So you came along to protect _me_?"

"Listen, I'm really sorry about last night," I told him, fully aware that I was blushing under all my makeup. It was so embarrassing. "We were talking, and saying things… I just got carried away and before I knew it, I—"

Then he interrupted me with a kiss. "You talk too much." And then we kissed each other again, longer, and we put our arms around each other and I wished that the moment would never end. That's when I realized that I could never be with anyone but Sokka.

* * *

The ending may sound a little lame, but they're just so perfect for each other. I hope you liked it, thanks for reading!


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